Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Apparently I'm feeling crazy lately. With good reason, I'm having a hard time with a lot of things that are going on, including the possible death of my laptop. I won't hear for another two or three weeks (!!!) about whether it's going to be saved or not. I'm so depressed. Also, I can't stop thinking about pie. I mean, seriously. Almost everything I eat I wish was pie, with the exception or a fantastic lunch today at Fork where I had salmon that melted in my mouth like butter, among other delicious things. I tried making a pie yesterday out of interesting things I found in the kitchen, but I failed. I've never failed at pie before. It was sad. The good news is that I tried again today, and triumphed! I wanted to make this post for St Patrick's day yesterday, but oh well. Do you really need an excuse to eat a pie that has liquor in it? Brandy berry pieI used my almond tart crust for this pie, since I didn't want to roll anything out (really, I'm so lazy) with a few changes. I used 1 c almond meal and 1/2 c rice flour mix instead of 3/4 of each and I added a Tbs of teff. This makes a fairly runny pie because of all the liquid, so maybe don't serve this to guests wearing light colored clothes.

Preheat oven to 350. Toss berries with cornstarch and vanilla, let sit 15 minutes. Combine brandy and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer about 10 minutes. Gently pour half of the brandy mixture over the crust, then spread the berries and their juices evenly over the crust. Pour the rest of the brandy mix over the berries, then bake 25 minutes until berries are soft. Cool pie well before serving. This, like all pies, is delicious with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Thanks, Debbie!Mia- it's a regular tart pan, 11 inches in diameter. (I use this pan- http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90029886) If you're using a deeper dish, like a regular pie plate, you can increase the berries because the dish will be able to accommodate more liquid without spilling over.

Love the pie. It's really similar to the berry pie I made for my boyfriend's family at christmas, which was oh so delicious.

The trick I used to keep it from being so runny and ruining the crust was lay a layer of melted chocolate over the crust (and letting it dry) before adding the berries. A delicious and effective barrier, I'm *sure* it would go well with brandy, too. I mean, chocolate and alcohol? I see no problems there! :)

You can check it out at: http://glutenfreeincleveland.blogspot.com/2009/01/christmas-dinner-secret-mac-cheese-and.html